The Unlucky Ones
by XLennox
Summary: Before Hazel belonged to Augustus , he had another . When standing at a Memorial window , Augustus spots a person in the desolate hospital playground . Caroline Mathers . He decides to befriend her . But little does he know what her tumor is doing . It threatens to destroy her mind and the girl Augustus never got to know . Had they met another time , it may have been different .
1. Prologue

**The Unlucky Ones Prologue**

**Hello all ! I reread The Fault In Our Stars for the third of fourth time a few days ago and I remembered a character we haven't heard a lot of . Caroline Mathers . So I got to thinking " Was Caroline important to how our beloved Augustus is how he is ?" The obvious answer is yes . Because if not , John Green wouldn't have told his readers how their relationship was and how she hit all of his weak points and such , such such . Right ? And I thought their story deserved to be elaborated on . Please review and tell me how I can improve . Thanks !**

**- Lennox Rosearus**

**IMPORTANT NOTE : I just finished redoing this chapter into third person and have not yet done the second chapter . **

**IMPORTANT NOTE : Yes I have read FIOS more than once and yes , I know Isaac has blonde hair and the such ... But I couldn't help wanting to use his appearance from The Fault in Our Stars movie that came out on the 6th . So I decided I would use the dark hair , dark eyed version of Isaac . Don't hate me ?**

The definition of suffering ? _"the state of undergoing pain, distress, or hardship"_ , according to Google . Then was he suffering ? Was he suffering as he felt a ring of ice clamped on his lower thigh where his leg should have been ? He kept grabbing his leg with short , panicked intervals , still expecting to feel the warmth of his own knee . But instead , he felt the cold , metal , artificial joint . He drew his thigh up slowly , watching as the long metal rod bent as a normal leg . He flicked the rod and then felt the other knee , watching it bend . He wanted to cry but he also didn't . Both legs fell flat at his command and he lay there in the stiff , white hospital bed with his curtain drawn on the right . He watched the afternoon light shine across his leg and gleam on the silver metal of the other leg . He found himself staring out the hospital window before he can help it , not remembering stumbling across the room on his new leg .

He leaned his forehead against the cool pane of glass , hands spread wide on either side of his head . His breath collected into a white cloud on the glass that crept into the corners of his vision . He bit his chapped lower lip and then let one hand fall from the window to support his jaw . The soft afternoon light spilled across the scene before his window . A desolate playground that had once been beautiful , but now was a skeleton of dull colors . The light turned his blue eyes into gold and slashed across his hair and face in streaks . He ran a hand through his matted brown hair and then let it fall against the windowsill . Suddenly he straightened up and pressed his nose against the glass , trying to catch a better view . Because he couldn't believe his eyes .

" Now , who are you ?" He whispered , watching the deft figure weave through the playground . Most obviously a girl because of the curvy , wide-hipped figure . When she approached the monkeybars in slow , careful steps , he noticed the short black hair and tanned skin .He smiled as she grabbed ahold of the first bar and couldn't help think of the metaphorical resonances . The bars were obviously meant to represent life and the girl as everyone as they go throughout life . You try and move through life to get to the end without falling off , but - he smiles as her feet hit the ground and she reaches up to continue - you always do , and you either give up or keep going . She gets to the end and pauses there as if catching her breath . She turns to go back but then suddenly turns . She looks as if she's being called back inside and then hesitates before jumping down . And oh , how he liked the way she walked . She moved slowly and purposefully , as if she were testing the person waiting for her to see if they knew she was worth the wait . She reached whomever was calling for her and disappeared . He lingered at the window for a couple more silent moments before stumbling ungracefully to his cot . He collapsed onto his stomach on the hard bed and curled his legs up to his chest . He pulled the thin covers up around his neck .

" Hello , my name is Augustus Waters , and I am going to be your new friend ," he whispered into the lifeless pillow . And soon after fell into a dreamless sleep .

He woke up to the sight of his parents who looked like walking dead . His mom , whom was usually polished and always looked complete and ready , didn't even look like herself . Her eyes were bloodshot , making her blue eyes seem even brighter . Bags sat under her eyes and her face was pink and blotchy , her hair a brown crown of tangles . His father , on the other hand , was keeping himself together . He looked tired but closed off . But he also had that stern look on his face that he used when trying to not let you see him sad . He'd only seen that look a few times in his lifetime , and here it was .

" Oh sweetie ," His mom whispered and grasped his hand in her cold one ," How are you ?"

" Thirty pounds lighter ," he responded with a small smile . And when seeing his mom's horrified expression , asked :" Too soon ?"

His mom turned to his dad and when their blue eyes locked he could feel mental communication happening .

" I'm honestly - fine ," he said and they both turned at the same time .

" You'll get through this , Gus ," His dad said and Gus turned a sarcastic blue eyed gaze on him . _You never get through cancer , dad , he wanted to say ._ Unfortunately , he could speak the truth to himself but not to his parents . It was almost like being a parent to them , lying about certain things to not hurt them , and instead keeping all the pain to yourself . He cringed at his own existence .

" When do the test results come back ?" He asked , sitting up and stiffly bringing his knees up to his chest .

" In a couple of days , I suppose ?" His mom said , turning to his father .

" What happens if - if I'm not NEC ?" He asked slowly . A silence followed as soon as he had spoken the words . And no one seemed to know how to break it . No one seemingly willing to break it .

" It would ... depend ," His father said slowly ," To where it had spread ."

" If it spread beyond my leg ?" He asked , thinking of his parents' faces when watching the next scan , hoping to see NEC . Only to see it light up like the Fourth of July and then their anguish .

" If it got into your other leg ... your vitals ... such things . But there's such a low possibility ..." Gus could tell his father was trying to say it with conviction , but it just wasn't working . He nodded slowly and offered a small smile .

" Has Isaac dropped by ?" He thought of my dark haired friend whom had one equally dark eye . He has one eye , I have one leg , I thought , We made a pretty good team .

" He came yesterday , but it was such a short time after the surgery that we told him to come back later ," His dad answered , scratching the crown of his hair near his widow's peak . Gus was heavily disappointed . He had wanted to share one-leggedness existence with Isaac . He could never say to his parents what he needed to confide in Isaac .

" Gus ? You're okay with that , right ?" His mom asked timidly , probably thinking that god forbid anything mildly upset her son .

" You know ... I may have to run away now , on my one leg . Hop on a train and go to Chicago . You crossed the line , there's no returning ," Gus shrugged and shook his head at his parents .

" Oh Gus ," His mom laughed half-heartedly .

" Son , I think we'll leave you to rest . We'll be back in a few hours ," His dad suggested , leading his mom by the arm out from behind the curtain . He heard the heavy hospital door close and then he sagged against the bed . Who knew being optimistic took so much energy ? For hours he lay and simply looked out the window . Watching as the sun descended upon it's path into the afternoon . He knew if the results didn't come back as NEC , he would die . His cancer was highly curable , but who knew . But he wanted his leg back . Who knew a three foot piece of flesh held so much value ?


	2. The Last Day of Dual Leggedness

Swish . I smile as the basketball makes it's heavenly sound and falls to the earth , bouncing almost merrily away . I take another one from the basketball rack next to me , squinting at the beat up background lit up with the bright fluorescent lights . It flies from my hands and sails through the hoop once more .

At this point , in the late morning and nothing to do , I've found myself at the North Central Gym . But I've also found myself at eighty free throws from the foul line , my absolute best . I take another and it hits the orange square on the backboard and falls through the hoop . One after another after another after another soars into the hoop . Eighty-one...Eighty-two...Eighty-three ... I tried to think of what I was doing in the first place . Standing in a gym , throwing a basketball through a hoop when I could be doing plenty of other things . More important things . Things more important than methodically tossing a spherical object through a toroidal object . One after another . I realized how stupid it was . So many things always seemed dependent upon it . Upon tossing a spherical object through a toroidal object . There was people whose lives depended on that skill , scholarships , income . But it was just one object inside of another . Like a little kid putting a cylindrical peg through a circular hole for months and months until they figure it out and basketball was basically the same thing but a more athletic version . Yes , it took some amount of skill to sink free throws eighty in a row . But it also didn't take much intelligence . What was I doing ? Eighty-six...Eighty-seven ... I was wasting time tossing a ball through a hoop like a kid with a peg and an opening . I felt like a two-year old . And why did football consist of taking an object two different groups wanted and running it to the opposite end ? It was kind of like taking someone's belonging and running past them to spite them . Just a lot more aggressive with two-hundred-whatever pound guys trying to beat you into the ground . And like hurdlers . Running their races and jumping over the totally arbitrary objects that they chose to have set in their path . Eighty-eight...Eighty-nine ... I wondered if hurdle jumpers ever thought " This would be easier if there weren't hurdles ." Ninety ... and then the next ball bounced off the rim . I watched it hit the ground and bounce before rolling to a stop at my feet .

I woke up and immediately brought my knees to my chest . But when the cold metal joint presses into my ribs , I remember . Moaning , I flop back onto my side , burrowing my head into my pillow . I guess I was being pretty loud because I hear a nurse enter my room .

" And what do I owe the pleasure ?" I say , turning my face halfway towards the door .

" I came in to see if you needed any shifting of your pain medication ." They had started pumping me full of drugs last night when the freckled nurse noticed swelling around my new leg .

" No , no . Sweet bliss , thank you ." And then I press my face back into the pillow .

" Do you want water ?"

" No ," I moan in frustration ," I want to not have one leg , I want to not have my best friend have eye cancer , I want to not have any kid in the world have cancer ! BECAUSE CANCER DOESN'T CARE WHAT AGE SOMEONE IS ! WHEN DID THE WORLD GO : LET'S MAKE SOME KIDS SUFFER AND DIE FROM SOMETHING MADE OUT OF THEM ? MAKE THEM DIE OF THEMSELVES ? I mean , no ... No thank you . Thanks for asking ," I drop quickly into a normal speaking tone but she barely acknowledges me with a nod and then leaves . I moan and fall back into the pillow . Since when did I become my cancer ?

The rest of the day includes visits from my mom and dad , Isaac , sisters and their rich banker or lawyer husbands , and a few nurses . But I still wasn't allowed to go meet Caroline . Because they weren't sure I was NEC yet ( it means No Evidence of Cancer ) . I kept my Caroline conversations strictly with the freckled nurse ( whose name was actually Bree ). My questions included : " Does she have a boyfriend "," Why is she in the hospital","How old is she". Kinds of things an acquaintance would need to know when walking into a room to meet a stranger . I had slowly wedged out the information of Caroline as follows : She was a year younger than me , had a brain tumor , had been here the last three days , and no , a boyfriend had not come to visit her . But yes , I still had to wait a couple of days to see her because I wasn't guaranteed NEC yet . To which I replied to with a moan . And it also wouldn't be guaranteed that she would be able to see me anyway .

But I was set on befriending Caroline Mathers .


End file.
